Vegan Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

4.86 from 28 votes

Vegan Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Vegan Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. No added refined sugar in those soft and Delicious Lemon Cake! Make into cupcakes, loaf or a sheet pan cake. Vegan Soyfree Recipe, Can be nut-free. GF option

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: lemon cake, spring lemon cake, vegan cream cheese frosting

Servings:

Author: Vegan Richa

Ingredients

Wet:

1/2 cup maple syrup (add 1 tbsp sugar for sweeter)
1/3 cup lemon juice ( 1 tbsp more if using whole grain flours)
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water or non dairy milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract optional

Dry:

1 1/2 cup flour (I use all purpose or a combination of all purpose and whole wheat pastry/white whole wheat flour, 1 :1 or 2:1 ratio)
2 tbsp almond flour or meal , or use more flour to make it nutfree
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1/8 tsp turmeric for color, optional
zest of 1/2 to 1 lemon depending on the size of the lemon and your preference of lemonyness

Frosting:

6 oz vegan cream cheese (I use kite hill plain almond cream cheese, see notes to make your own cashew cream cheese)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
a pinch of salt
1 - 2 tbsp powdered sugar and 2 drops of vanilla if needed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
Add the 1 1/4 cup flour and the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk well to make a smooth batter. Add rest of the flour 1 tbsp at a time to make a smooth flowy batter, but not overly watery or overly stiff. You might not need all of the flour if using whole grain flour.
Pour the batter into a lined or greased pan. Even it out using a spatula.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes if using a square baking dish or brownie pan. If the dish is stoneware, add a few more mins to the baking time. If baking a Loaf: 40 to 50 minutes, Cupcakes: 20 to 25 minutes for cupcakes. Test with a toothpick from the center. It should come out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 mins, then remove and let it cool completely before frosting.
Whisk the ingredients under frosting until smooth. Add 1-2 tbsp powdered sugar for sweeter frosting. Adjust the tang with lemon zest if needed. Add a drop or so vanilla extract or almond extract for flavor (optional). Chill the frosting for 15 mins if too flowy.
Spread the frosting on the cake evenly. Slice and serve. Store refrigerated for upto 4 days. The lemon flavor gets stronger on storing

Video

Notes

Cashew Cream Cheese: Blend 1/2 cup cashews (that have been soaked for an hour then drained), 1 teaspoon or more lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt with a few tbsp of water until creamy.

Nut-free: Omit almond flour from the cake and use a nutfree cream cheese for frosting or use a simple glaze with powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Gluten-free: To make this gluten-free, Mix 1/2 cup oat flour, 3/4 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup potato starch. Use 1 1/4 cup of the flour and add more as needed to make a batter, and bake into brownie pan or cupcakes.

Oil-free: Use 3 tbsp applesauce.

Nutrition is 1 of 9 serves (1 piece)

Nutrition

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